Mortality
by An Ordinary Riceball
Summary: "When something is alive, then at some point, that life will expire. The body will return to the earth, where flowers will bloom on top of it. Their spirit will serve to nourish other people's feelings, and continue to live on inside their hearts. Everything in the world flows around and circulates. People's lives are like that too." Takes place in FMA 2003. Deleted COS scene.


**Story: Mortality  
"When something is alive, then at some point, that life will expire. The body will return to the earth, where flowers will bloom on top of it. Their spirit will serve to nourish other people's feelings, and continue to live on inside their hearts. Everything in the world flows around and circulates. People's lives are like that too. Even though I know as much as I do about it, it's still so hard to explain the concept to of death to a child."  
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 **I don't own the majority of this dialogue except for where Sig goes to Wrath. I simply added life to an important scene from the original script for the COS movie which got left out. I don't own FMA, nor it's characters.**

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 _When something is alive, then at some point, that life will expire. The body will return to the earth, where flowers will bloom on top of it. Their spirit will serve to nourish other people's feelings, and continue to live on inside their hearts. Everything in the world flows around and circulates. People's lives are like that too. Even though I know as much as I do about it, it's still so hard to explain the concept to of death to a child._

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Life was pretty much the same as always at the meat shop, even though Izumi's condition had been getting worse. She had been coughing up blood more and more lately. Izumi seemed aware that she might not have that much time left. Sig was suffering over this internally, but Izumi had accepted that it was her punishment for trying to delve into forbidden alchemy despite the warnings.

Sig was selling meat in the storefront, as always.

Lying in bed sick was Izumi.

"It was about two months ago…" she muttered out, deep in thought, as she remembered the face of the boy who might as well be her child. She couldn't deny that she missed Edward, just as everybody else did, even if it didn't show as much. But those that knew her well, like Sig, Winry and even Alphonse could tell. They had often noticed her looking off into space with a saddened expression, especially while training Alphonse, since it brought back the memories she had of so many years ago when both Edward and Alphonse were still somewhat innocent to the grim truth of the world, before they had seen so many things.

Winry was sitting beside her. Over such a short period of time, she seemed to have become hardier, having returned from her training. She had also changed her outfit, wearing an automail technician's toolbelt and such.

Winry had been feeling more and more worried for Izumi, just like the others.

Izumi suddenly broke out into a coughing fit. "I will eventually become unable to move… So I told Al to go. There wasn't anything else I could teach him."

"Is… that so…." Winry mumbled, eyes downcast. Neither one of them were really looking at each other.

Izumi gave a sad but fond expression, almost smirking. "He… had a terrible talent for absorbing alchemy… now he might even surpass Ed."

Winry nodded. "But… he still hasn't given up on Ed, has he?"

"He believes…That Ed is alive, somewhere…" Izumi told her. "At first I thought maybe he just didn't really understand how he'd disappeared, but… That's not it. It seems he… feels… something."

 _That was just like Al, not to give up on Edward,_ Winry thought. She was silent, but on edge, as Izumi had yet another coughing fit.

She then continued. "It seems he's seeing, in dreams…. Dreams of Ed… Himself, in the body of a sickly 17 year old boy, living with Ed. There's a rocket or something like that that they're… working on…"

Izumi's face looked pale as she spoke, and Winry could tell that she was in no condition to be up and about.

"Izumi-san, that's enough, please rest…" she told her, in a soft and choked up voice.

However, instead of listening, Izumi's eyes flared open and she stood up, taking Winry aback.

Winry became even more worried. "Izumi-san?"

Not listening, Izumi weakly staggered towards the back door, almost falling along the way, catching the attention of Sig.

Izumi stepped outside, looking ready to collapse. Winry and Sig follow after her, concerned.

"What are you doing?" Sig asked, trying to get an answer.

"If you don't sleep…!" Winry added, but was unable to bring herself to finish her sentence, terrified by her own implication and worries.

Izumi brushes them off, still ignoring them.

Izumi… desperately walked forward. Her face was contorted with a pained but somehow relieved expression.

"So you've… come…" she looks ahead.

Looking along Izumi's line of sight, Winry gasped, upon seeing Wrath standing there.

The homunculus stood, looking at Izumi. His automail was rusted and broken down.

"…Son…" Izumi said, as she reached her hand out towards Wrath. However, before she could reach him, she collapsed in front of him.

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Startled and visibly distraught, Wrath turned around and started to flee. However, Winry's voice stopped him.

"Wrath."

The boy jerked to a stop in response.

"You can't go… Isn't she your mom, after all…?" Winry looked at him. Wrath returned the gaze, before looking away, uncertain and bitter.

"Homunculi don't have mothers… We're…" Wrath's voice almost seemed to crack. "fake lives made with alchemy…"

However, despite his words, he still approached Izumi with a conflicted look of suffering. Izumi could still recognize him as her son even after everything that had happened, even though he wasn't human, she still loved him?

Izumi took hold of the hesitant Wrath, pulling him closer, and feeling regret at not having been there for him until now. She smiled softly, tightly hugging her son, as she practically whispered, "Then… I'll give you… a real life…"

Her pupils dilated and she then grew limp. Wrath's eyes grew wide when Izumi suddenly stopped breathing. Tears clinging to the corners of his eyes, the boy didn't know what to do. "...Mom...my?"

After a moment, Winry and Sig noticed as well. "Izumi…-san? Izumi-san?!"

Izumi had taken her last breath, holding onto Wrath, his precious boy, with a smile. It was probably the most genuine and content smile Sig had seen from Izumi in so many years.

His tears overflowed at the sight… without a word.

Wrath was spaced out, unable to fully process what had just happened.

Winry then burst out sobbing, wishing more than anything that there was something they could have done, but was moved but how happy Izumi seemed in the end.

After a moment of strained silence had passed, Sig walked over to Wrath, his and Izumi's child, their _baby_ , kneeling down, and pulling the frightened child as well as the woman he had always loved with his entire soul and being into a tight embrace, only managing to choke out the words, "I'm so sorry."

Within an instant, all of Wrath's walls of defense came crumbling down around him and the tears just spilled out without any control.

 _Fin._

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 _A/N: The top quote is from episode 27. Please let me know what you guys think?_


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